Chuck Versus The New Mission
by PEANUT v1.2
Summary: After the beach, Chuck assigns himself a new mission to help Sarah recall the past five years and the love that they held for each other. Post final episode.


**I wrote this all in one sitting. xD I think it turned out GREAT. I love the way the finale ended and was open for interpretation, because that gave me the chance to expand on it and write this. So sad it's over, but thankful for the five years the TV show gave us. (: **

Chuck Versus The New Mission

On the television screen in the living room, Charles Irving Bartowski appeared in a video that he shot a long time ago. He is also in the room, watching his past self sit down on the chair and look directly into the camera. Though he knew what was coming, he still felt his heart leap at the words he said in the video.

"_Hi, my name's Chuck," he said. "This is a mission log that I will be recording every day or so, or every time that I have something valuable to say. This is day one of my mission, which I will call 'Operation Walker.'"_

"_It has been about one month since Sarah was first taken, and a week since our kiss on the beach. The kiss didn't help her remember anything, but…She still decided that she was going to stay in the Burbank area and wanted to remain in my life." He smiled faintly, looking down and then back up before speaking quickly. "And, of course, I said yes. I want her in my life too."_

_He cleared his throat, getting back on task. "My mission is to help Sarah recall more memories of her past, and of our relationship. That's what these video clips will be narrating. There's nothing to report today; I haven't even seen Sarah. She's living in her old apartment, but we're visiting each other constantly, talking like friends would even if it's awkward sometimes. Other than that…Yeah, nothing to report."_

_Chuck fidgeted with his hands before he reached forward and turned off the camera. _

_Shortly after, another clip came on automatically. _

_Again, Chuck was sitting in front of the camera. This time he had on a plain black shirt._

"_Day two," he said, clasping and then unclasping his hands. "Nothing has changed since yesterday. I invited Sarah over for pizza and got her favorite type for her—vegetarian, no olives. I didn't bring up the topic of her memories, but she did. And she said she knew I brought that type of pizza to her room before. I don't know if she actually remembered it or if she saw it in one of her previous mission logs, so I'm not getting my hopes up that it was any improvement. _

_With a sad expression, Chuck reached forward and turned off the camera. _

_*…*…*…*…*…*_

"_Day seven," Chuck said stoically, eyes blanker than they had been in the last video. "Sarah told me that she had to leave Burbank for a little while and didn't offer information to where she was going. I didn't ask. So…she left earlier today, and I don't know when she'll be back, or if she'll call me."_

_The video clip shut off._

_*…*…*…*…*…*_

_Chuck appeared on the camera again. This time, he had on a sky-diving suit and had an exasperated expression on his face. "Day twenty one," he said. "Just got back from __**Romania. **__Long story short, Sarah got herself in a little bit of trouble and…somehow, I managed to swoop in and save the day. It was quite the adventure, you know, jumping out of a plane and all that. Thank goodness I have the intersect back, or I would have been _freaking out.

"_But anyway," he continued. "We're both safe and sound in Burbank now. Sarah's asleep in my bed. She didn't want to spend the night alone at her apartment. That's progress…I guess."_

"_I'm just…really getting tired, you know? I want so badly for her to remember, but she's only beginning to recall stuff that happened on missions and not our relationship. It's a start, but I feel so helpless. There's nothing that I can do to bring her back…"_

_He lifted a hand to his face, shielding his eyes for a moment before he used his other hand to shut off the camera. _

_*…*…*…*…*_

"_Day twenty-six. Today, Sarah asked me if it would be alright to move in with me again. Honestly, I was shocked that she even asked. She didn't show signs of remembering anything pertaining to our relationship, so I had to ask her why she wanted to come back. Her simple response was that she 'just wanted' to."_

"_Of course I told her she could move back in. That's all that I've wanted from the start. So, Sarah's back at her apartment now packing up all her stuff. I'll stop by tomorrow and help her bring her stuff over here, and…maybe things'll start getting better now, you know? M-maybe she'll start remembering more stuff now that we'll be spending more time together." Chuck's expression showed hope for the first time in weeks, though he himself wasn't convinced of the things that he said. _

_Still, he clung to hope. _

_*…*…*…*…*…*_

_The next shot showed Chuck sitting in front of a window as the rain poured outside. "Day forty-three," he said. "Sarah's asking me all the time to tell her more stories of our past, but she's not recalling anything of our relationship on her own. After the stories, or during the stories, for that matter, she doesn't input anything from the story to show that she remembers anything. Her face doesn't show any recognition either._

"_Honestly…I'm just happy that she's interested in us again. It's hard to read her though. Is she curious about all this just because she wants to know more about her past, or because she's interested in rekindling something between us? I don't ask her these types of questions, because I don't want to pressure her. I told her at the beach that I didn't expect anything from her, and I meant it._

"_We'll be going through this however she wants to, no matter what. I won't hurt her by trying to force anything or press my luck and push her away."_

_*…*…*…*…*…*_

"_Day fifty. Today Sarah and I ordered Chinese food for dinner and watched our wedding tape together. In the middle of it, I looked over and noticed her smiling softly. _

"_But of course, she noticed me looking over at her and met my gaze. I felt like such an idiot for being caught, but she didn't even flinch. That small smile remained on her face, and she…scooted over so that she was right next to me, and she leaned her head on my shoulder._

"_She didn't say anything, and neither did I. Honestly, I think words would have messed it up. We both just looked at the TV screen again and watched the rest of the tape. I…was so happy," Chuck said, tearing up a little bit in the video. "Just having her closer again…having her do something sweet like that…It reminded me of the Sarah that I fell in love with. The Sarah that I still am in love with."_

_*…*…*…*…*…*_

"_Day sixty-two," Chuck said, lifting a hand and ruffling his hair as he smiled softly. "It was a really good day. Today, Sarah asked me out on a date. Obviously I said yes. We went to one of our old favorite places, and she told me without me asking that she remembered how good the steaks were here. And how she always liked this place because it was nice but casual at the same time. She didn't bring up any memories of our dates here, but…That was okay.__** Is**__ okay, I mean," he stumbled. "But Sarah's doing better now than she was a little while ago. She's more lighthearted than she was…less of a stoic spy. I think she's happy here."_

_*…*…*…*…*…*_

_Chuck sat in front of the camera again, this time shirtless. "Day eighty…Today Sarah and I saw Casey again. He dropped in to say hi. Literally. He fell from the sky in our plaza from a plane. Always the show-off, Casey…" He shook his head, though his small smile showed amusement at the matter. "Anyway, I cooked dinner while Sarah and Casey talked alone for a little while. Not sure what they talked about, but it doesn't matter. _

"_The three of us had a nice dinner together, and then Morgan and Alex joined us for dessert. I liked it better that way. When the three of us were alone, it felt too much like old times. And I'm starting to realize…it'll never be like that again." _

_With a sadder, more somber expression, Chuck ended the video._

_*…*…*…*…*…*_

"_Day one-hundred-three," Chuck said, folding his arms over his brown shirt. "Last week, Sarah and I went to an event for the Buy More and had a good time. The party felt empty without Jeffster performing, though. Sarah and I ended up leaving because I was feeling sick. We went home and discovered that I had a fever of 103 degrees. I sort of…collapsed, in bed and was out for a while. When I woke up, Sarah was in bed with me for the first time since this whole thing started and she was curled up against my side without any covers overtop of her. She was cool, but against me for my warmth."_

_He laughed weakly, shaking his head. "Guess my fever elevating my body temperature wasn't all bad. But I wondered at first if I was just dreaming or not. I wasn't delusional though, so I figured out that this was real life._

"_I know I said before that I didn't want to press my luck with Sarah, but this time I did. She was already asleep, so I rolled over and wrapped my arms around her to bring her closer. She naturally buried her face in my chest and was comfortable in my arms."_

_Looking up at the camera, no further words were needed to explain how much this moment meant to Chuck. His eyes were moist and his small smile was a happy one. After a few moments, he leaned forward and turned off the camera._

_It came back on and Chuck spoke quickly. "Still Day one-hundred-three," he said a bit sheepishly. "Got so caught up in the moment that I forgot to give other updates. Sarah's sleeping in bed with me every night now and is coping with life well. She has a job now at the Buy More as a sale-person, trained by yours truly." _

_His smile widened, and for the first time, it was a smile where his teeth showed slightly. "I'm proud of her. She's doing well there. She's so intelligent…she caught onto all the stuff pretty quickly. And it's nice just having her around."_

_*…*…*…*…*…*_

"_Day one-forty," Chuck said. "Life continues on as it has been for a while now. Work's fine for both me and Sarah. The family came to visit a little while ago and Awesome too me aside and said it sure looked like Sarah and I were doing well. And I assured him that we were. He asked about her memories, and I could only shrug. Sarah rarely brought them up, and neither did I._

"_You know…I'm starting to realize…My mission isn't the same as it was in the start. It's less about Sarah getting her memories back and more about making her happy. That's what matters most to me now, even if I wished she could remember all the stuff that I do. I know she could if she had a choice, but…it's okay. _

"_As long as she's happy, so am I."_

_*…*…*…*…*…*_

"_Day one-sixty-seven. Today is going to be my last day of recording these mission blogs. I'm calling off the mission now. It's been over five months since this started and I know it's not my job to make Sarah remember now. The memories of her old life are coming back slowly…But it's more important that she herself is finding her way back. We're happy again for the most part. _

"_The way she looks at me…It's not the same as before. I don't even know how to describe the change. It's just different. Sarah says that she has a surprise for me tomorrow night so I'm curious about that. Whatever she has to tell me or show me, I'm going to tell her about my mission, and how I'm sorry I failed her. But…I don't know what else to do._

"_This has to come to a close sometime, so I'm going to end it today. My life-long mission of keeping Sarah happy will continue though. And I don't need mission blogs for that."_

"_So," Chuck said with a weak smile. "Farewell to all that are watching these clips, and I'm sorry if they bored you. But this is my story and I wanted you all to know it. And that even if I'm giving up on my mission, I still love Sarah Lisa Walker Bartowski with all my heart. I always will."_

_The final clip turned off, and that was the end of the recordings, and of the mission._

_*…*…*…*…*…*_

The television screen was black, the air in the room silent now that the recordings were done. Though Chuck was the one who sat down and turned on the television, he wasn't alone. He hadn't been from the start.

Chuck looked over at Sarah, who was leaning forward in her seat and gazing at the TV still. Fighting the urge to call her "babe" or hug her or anything, Chuck finally spoke. "So, that's what I've been up to for the past hundred sixty-some days," he said with a small laugh. He was trying to ease the tension, just because Sarah was being so silent.

"You've been busy," Sarah managed, looking over at Chuck with moist eyes. "I wouldn't have even known. You didn't bring up my memories too often…"

"I didn't want to," Chuck responded softly, looking down at his hands in his lap. "I know your memories were stolen from you…I didn't want to make you feel like you were a failure just because you couldn't remember stuff."

"Chuck."

"Hm?" he hummed. He blinked when he felt a hand on his cheek, gently turning his head to look at the woman beside him again. This was only the second or third time she had done that in the past few months. His hazel eyes locked onto hers as she spoke to him.

"…I remember."

He couldn't believe his ears. His heart couldn't believe the words that he just heard. Sarah…could she really have remembered…? No, he misheard her. "What?" he asked quietly, disbelieving.

"Chuck…I love you," Sarah said, stroking his cheek with her thumb. "The past few months…I've fallen in love with you all over again. With your pancakes in the morning, your nerd-pep-talks at the Buy More, the stuttering whenever you're nervous…All of it swept me off my feet."

"But…that's crazy," Chuck exclaimed softly, glancing away in shyness. "I didn't do any of that stuff to try and impress you."

"No, you didn't," Sarah agreed. "You didn't have to impress me, Chuck. I fell for who you are naturally. And as soon as I fell in love with you all over again…I recalled everything. Our past life together and all that we went through."

"When did you fall in love with me again? When did this happen?"

"Two days ago," she responded with a small smile. "I had the hardest time keeping it from you, but I wanted to surprise you. I wanted so hard to try and find a way to show my love and appreciation for you…You never gave up on me."

"But I lost hope at a few moments," he said in shame.

Sarah shushed him, lifting his chin again to look in his eyes. "You didn't give up on me," she repeated. "No matter what."

"Well, I love you," Chuck said with a weak smile. "I couldn't give up on you, no matter what."

"I love you too," Sarah said, gently taking her hand off his cheek. She reached into her jeans pocket, speaking as she dug around for something. "And because of that, I think that you should be the one allowed to do this."

She pulled out the item she had been searching for. It was small and Chuck hadn't seen it in months, but he was intimately familiar with it. "Your wedding ring," he said softly, looking at the item in Sarah's palm. _What does she want me to do with it?_

Sensing Chuck's confusion, Sarah grabbed one of Chuck's hands and put the ring in it before holding out her left hand. Her actions made it clear what her words weren't saying. _Put the ring back on my finger. I'm yours again._

He understood. Chuck lifted his free hand and lightly grasped Sarah's left hand as he shifted the ring in his fingers. This was something he had wanted for so long. He always wore his ring, but Sarah didn't wear hers. She had possession of it the whole time and kept it safe. Apparently she had been waiting for this moment all along. The moment where she could reclaim Chuck, and he could reclaim her.

The ring slid onto her finger naturally, sitting perfectly. Chuck continued holding Sarah's hand as he lifted his gaze to her, meeting her pale blue eyes and the smile that was both on her lips and in her eyes. Her lips neared his and she gently kissed him, making the first move. Without hesitation, Chuck returned the gentle kiss and lifted a hand to sit on the back of her neck.

This kiss wasn't like the last one that they had, which was at the beach. This one undoubtably held love that was on both sides of the kiss.

Both of them withdrew at the same time, though their foreheads were against one another's and their noses touched lightly.

"I love you," Sarah breathed.

"I love you too," Chuck said, weaving his fingers deeper into Sarah's hair.

The ex-spy Sarah pulled back for only a moment, changing her position as she curled up against the side of her husband. Chuck wrapped his arms around her and held her close, burying his face in her hair to hide the tears that were surfacing. But this time, the tears surfaced because of joy.

They had their past life behind them, both in their hearts and in their memories. Now the future awaited them.


End file.
